Archive for May, 2009

Gary Ivy has over 20 years of experience as a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service working with wetlands, waterfowl and waterbird management. From his home base of Bend, Oregon, Gary is involved with wetland and waterfowl planning and conservation in the Intermountain Region of eastern Oregon and California’s Central Valley. Gary is the senior author on the Intermountain West Waterbird Conservation Plan. He holds a MS degree from Oregon State University in Corvallis.

Gary has worked with Trumpeter Swans since 1980 when he began a marking study and later initiated and coordinated the Oregon Trumpeter Swan Project. While working at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, he supervised one of the most comprehensive biological monitoring programs in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Gary continues to work closely with the staff at Malheur Refuge and Oregon Fish and Wildlife to build up the Oregon Trumpeter Swan restoration flock. He also works part time for the International Crane Foundation as their Western Crane Conservation Manager, does private consulting work and is pursuing his PhD, studying crane wintering ecology in California.

Once in awhile something comes into our office that causes us to pause in admiration. As biologists working to benefit swans and their habitats, we carry with us the deep emotional connection to Trumpeters that inspired us to work in their behalf, yet we often lack the artistic ability to express those connections to others. Savoera Pahladsingh’s beautiful 6 ½ minute video recently posted on YouTube captured the beauty and majesty of the swans in ways that words cannot express. Savoera’s video, set to the music of Enigma’s Return to Innocence, blends artistic and technological skills in grand proportion. She tackles the tough issue of lead toxicity head on and highlights the suffering it is causing, particularly among Trumpeter Swans in the Pacific Northwest, while reminding us of how these inspiring birds have enriched human existence. TTSS has been working for several years to reduce this lead poisoning threat. This has been an extremely difficult and complex problem and progress is being made. But the suffering and death has not yet ended. We deeply appreciate this inspiring effort to focus public attention on the problem. What a reminder to all that we must find solutions for threats to Trumpeters – to preserve their wild beauty and grace — that make our world so precious. Thank you Savoera! Gary Ivy, our board member from Bend, Oregon, sent us the link (thanks Gary!) and we’d like to share it with all our readers. Find it Save the TrumpeterSwan at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQPNbMMs7Zg The related website is:http://www.swanparadise.com/Trumpeter-Swan.html